INTHEBLACK October 2021 - Magazine - Page 70
WORK SMART
// T E C H TA L K
STORY GLENN REES
WEBSITES
MADE EASY
DO ES YOUR BUSINES S – OR YOUR CL IENTS’ B U SI N ESS– N E E D A
WEBS ITE? IT MIG HT BE EAS IER T H A N YOU TH I N K W I T H T H ESE
U S ER-FRIENDLY TOOLS.
A
basic website is a must for every
business, and yet many small
businesses either don’t have a
website at all, or have one that is outdated
and neglected.
Building a website may seem daunting,
but it doesn’t have to be with these userfriendly, cost-effective and easy-to-use tools.
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
In the past, businesses needed to do three
things to build a website – register a domain
name, create web pages using a software
package and sign up with a web hosting
provider.
The process was convoluted and often
required the expertise of a professional to
code in HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
and other web languages. Larger sites also
required working with a database.
These days, many companies sell domain
names, host web pages and offer drag-anddrop website building tools that don’t require
coding expertise.
These tools don’t offer all the power and
flexibility of a professionally built site, but
70 ITB October 2021
they are inexpensive, simple to use and tick
most, if not all, of the boxes required by a
small business.
Here is a breakdown of some of the most
popular options.
WIX
Wix is the big name in hosted website
builders, and with good reason – it offers
everything many small businesses need
from a website.
Wix includes hundreds of slick, mobilefriendly templates to choose from as the
starting point, and an easy-to-use drag-anddrop editor that allows you to customise
many elements of the design.
There are plenty of add-on apps for email
and social media marketing, search engine
optimisation (SEO), website analytics and
customer relationship management.
If you need more, there is an app market
with hundreds of third-party tools that can
be easily bolted on.
Wix offers a free basic plan, with several
paid plans also available, depending on the
features and customisations required.
SQUARESPACE
Squarespace is another popular hosted website
builder that could be ideal for those who want
a modern, elegant design. Its templates are
beautiful, and its editor is also quite easy to
use. Unlike Wix, Squarespace designs are
“responsive”, meaning that Squarespace’s
web pages seamlessly change to suit different
screen sizes, whereas Wix uses separate fixed
designs for desktops and mobiles.
Squarespace cannot match Wix’s sheer volume
of features, but it does offer many similar
options, including portfolio sites, blogs, online
stores and service business sites. It also has
SEO, email marketing, analytics and other
helpful tools.
SHOPIFY
Wix and Squarespace offer everything required
to get an online store up and running quickly,
but Shopify is designed solely for that purpose.
All of its templates are designed to sell
products and services, and it offers a more
comprehensive suite of e-commerce tools.
For example, Shopify offers more payment
gateways and thousands of integrations with